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The Portuguese government announced Thursday it is increasing its stake in TAP Air Portugal from 50% to 72.5% after prolonged negotiations with the airline’s minority private shareholders on how to save the money-losing company. “The state will now play a key role in TAP,” Finance Minister Joao Leao said. The EC recently granted the Portuguese government permission to inject E1.2b into TAP, on the condition it scaled back the airline’s operations and cut its costs. The government, in return for injecting cash into the company, wanted more control over its finances, but the private investors resisted changes to TAP’s financial structure, Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos said.<br/>

Air NZ has stopped mixing cabin crew between international and domestic flight duties on at least the majority of its jets, after concerns were raised about the Covid risks. The airline said it had introduced “split groups” for its Airbus A320 crew in its current roster, so there would be separate crews for trans-Tasman and domestic flights. Previously, Air NZ said an “incredibly limited number” of crews on its A320s and Boeing 787-9s might have been rostered to fly both domestic and international routes during the Covid pandemic. The change came after an Air NZ crew member’s concerns that crewing flights across the Tasman could not be regarded as “low risk” because they were often carrying transit passengers from countries in Europe and Asia that been hard hit by the virus. Air NZ said while a 787 was also operating some “ad hoc” flights between Auckland and Christchurch, staff who had also crewed that aircraft on trips to the United States needed to have a compulsory Covid test after they returned from the US. Air NZ said in a statement that it had changed its A320 rostering arrangements on its own accord. <br/>